I didn’t see the walk-off balk when it happened. It was a holiday and I was with my family. Fireworks trumps Royals baseball these days. Sort of… I was still following the game on my phone.

When I saw what happened – that All-Star Aaron Crow balked in the winning run – I laughed, send off a Tweet about the Buddy Bell Corollary (Help me out people, is this a corollary or an axiom? We need to settle this because it comes up at least once a month.) about never saying you hit rock bottom and then went about my business of drinking beer and shooting bottle rockets at my neighbor who is a Cardinals fan.

I’m numb.

Seriously… I just can’t get worked up about the way this organization loses. Not anymore. Seagulls in the outfield? Check. Letting a catchable flyball drop between a pair of outfielders? Uh-huh. Kyle Davies? Ohhhh, yeah.

At this point, if a T-Rex stomped out of the Royals bullpen in left and smashed Alex Gordon while he was trying to make a catch with two down in the top of the ninth, my reaction would pretty much be to shrug my shoulders and go hunt some nachos.

The Royals are my novocain.

Don’t take that the wrong way… I still love this team. It’s part of my DNA, part of who I am. Nothing will change that. (If 10 years of the dream team of Allard Baird and Dayton Moore can’t kill fandom, it’s damn near rock solid.) I just don’t get surprised at what I see on the field.

Take 2011. I’ve written many times that this season was supposed to be a transitional year. It was the year when we would begin to see the fruits of The Process at the major league level. And we have seen that. Crow, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas… It’s been exciting getting to see the new guys come up and have some success.

Am I supposed to feel better about the balk-off because Aaron Crow was involved and Chip Ambres wasn’t? I don’t know… Seems kind of the same to me. A loss is a loss is a loss. This is a huge issue. Huge. There’s a stench of losing that wafts around this organization and it’s been there for almost 25 years. It’s difficult to clean that off. Dayton Moore has paid a good amount of lip service to reversing the “culture of losing” that has permeated the Royals front office, but all he’s done is ratchet up the paranoia a few clicks past irrational and lost a ton of ballgames while treading water in a sea of substandard baseball.

By building the team through the draft (the correct way, in my opinion) Moore bought himself several years of a teambuilding. You can’t construct a winner with only one draft class. Duh. It takes years of quality drafts. And that’s something the Royals have done. The future! The Process! We’re going to build our team mostly with homegrown talent!

Yet they can’t shake the stink.

That stink masks the fact that there have been improvements. Gordon, Butler, Hosmer and Moustakas are playing everyday and can form a solid middle of the order nucleus for the next couple of seasons. The bullpen rocks (that’s our All-Star!!!). The Shortstop Jesus is waaaaay better than Yuniesky Betancourt.

Sadly, the successes can’t cover for the failures. Once GMDM knew he was trading Zack Greinke, he needed to find cover for the rotation. His gambles haven’t delivered and his trades are even bigger busts. Jerod Dyson is fun to have around as a pinch runner, but really has zero business being on a major league roster – even on a team that’s going to lose 95 games. Chris Getz is now the leadoff hitter. Kyle Davies has no business being on a Triple-A roster. Ned Yost is a unicycle away from descending into Trey Hillman madness.

As frustrating as this season has been, I’m still on board. Christ, I’m as insane as Yost.

If we’ve learned anything from 2011 it’s that pitching really, truly is the currency of the game. Moore was hung with Confederate money when he traded for Davies, O’Sullivan and Mazarro. Yet, the Royals are in ballgames because their offense works. This season, they are scoring 4.4 runs per game, their highest number in the Dayton Moore Era. That’s good. The fact that runs are down across the league as a whole makes it even better. Yes, there’s still a way to go to catch the big boys, but the bottom line is the Royals offense has improved while it’s taken a step back for most of the league. Read this again: Offense is down throughout baseball, but the Royals have taken a step forward with the bats.

It’s a chicken and the egg sort of thing… In order to shake the stench of losing, you have to win. And in order to win you have to have the players. In order to secure the players, you have to be a winner. Vicious cycle.

On Tuesday, Felipe Paulino scattered nine hits, but also chalked up nine strikeouts in six innings. These days, for the starting pitchers, it’s all about keeping the team in the game. And that’s exactly what Paulino did. Turn the game over to the bullpen with a two run lead and shut things down for the final nine outs. It’s a simple formula that would work more often… If we only had starting pitching.

I firmly believe we are on the cusp of leaving the days of walk-off balks and seagulls in the outfield in our rearview mirror. Tuesday was an example of where we can go if the Royals brain trust can simply cobble together a major league rotation. I know… Easier said than done. Especially on a budget. We’ve said before that the Royals can’t afford to make a free agent mistake. Flush $36 million down the toilet after Jose Guillen and that sets the organization back several years. Now that GMDM has learned a harsh lesson and is spending wisely, we need to extend the same school of thought to the trade deadline. If Moore and the Royals are going to be active sellers at the deadline, they absolutely have to find a way to get value in return. No more stiffs like O’Sullivan and Mazarro. The next round of trades has to secure at least one back of the rotation starter, who can be counted on to keep the team in games. We need another Felipe Paulino.

In many ways, the trade deadline at the end of the month is just as important as the draft or the international signing period which opened last weekend. With The Process rolling along, every move the Royals make is critical to the forward progress of this organization. The slightest error in judgement can have some serious repercussions.

Meanwhile, remember The Process and what it means… There’s going to be some good wins, but there will continue to be some really ugly losses. 2011 remains a transitional season. It’s not fair that we have to endure another season of stink, but it is what it is… And given the struggles of the top pitching prospects this year, it’s likely 2012 will bring the same issues. That’s why it’s so important that the Royals strike gold when looking to fill their pitching void… Otherwise, 2012 will be a carbon copy of 2011 and the stench of losing will hang around for yet another season.

Is Dayton Moore the guy to lead this team out of the fog? I have some serious doubts. For all the success in the minors, the Royals have had a helluva time identifying major league talent and assembling a coherent roster. Yes, the offense is better, but the starting pitching… That’s why the next 18 months are crucial times for the Royals and their movement forward. This is an improved organization and GMDM and his people get full credit for that. But if we’re handing out credit, we also have to deduct points for the failings… And there have been many.

It’s cliche, but the future truly does start now… With the prospect pipeline open, the trade deadline and what the Royals do this off season toward building their 2012 roster will give us a good idea if they will ever realize the fruits of The Process. This needs to move forward… Because I’m ready to care about this team. I’m ready to celebrate meaningful wins. I’m ready to be bothered by a meaningful loss. I’m ready to contend.

The novocain needs to wear off and this team needs to refute the culture of losing.

The positives this year – better offensive, defense and bullpen – have made following the Royals at least enjoyable compared to previous years. While I understand it is difficult to acquire quality starting pitchers, Dayton has consistently preached that pitching is the most important part of winning in baseball – seems like he has failed to this point. There are enough pitching prospects in the minors that I believe in two years, we’ll have a decent rotation (waiting is the toughest part).

The current roster appears to have enough talent to have a better record than they currently have – breaking the culture of losing appears to be as difficult as finding starting pitchers. When you see Clint Hurdle ride into Pittsburg (our NL equivalent) and have a winning record, you wonder about Ned’s ability to manage.

Ned has the ability to apply good baseball logic to back up his decisions – they just seem to fail more often than they succeed. Did anybody else notice the batting order against Peavy last night – the 1,3,5,7 hitters were lefties that had an 0-for-Peavy. The righties had enough success to win the game, but in looking at Peavy’s batting avg against, lefties hit .218 while righties hit .259. Just saying – don’t think Ned has the Midas touch.

Bravo. Your sentiment is what I believe most Royals fans are feeling, yet you finally put it into words. As outstanding as our minor leauge pitching was last year, it seems like pitching has been a pitfall for both the major and minor league systems this season. But alas I still have hope things are coming together.

Excellent piece, both gloomy and optimistic. The unicycle line made me shoot stuff out my nose.

Written by Scott H about 4 years ago.

Great article Craig. I’m a Yost fan but this year is wearing me thin. It seems like the farther away we get from spring training the more basics the Royals forget (balks). Where is the aggressive nature we showed early on, the stealing, hit and runs, we’ve kinda become a station to station team and not putting pressure on the D to make plays or to open up holes for groundballs to get through. Our D is ALOT better that last year(SS Jesus, and the outfield way to go !!) plus a team that is doing that is more fun for the fans to watch. Hoch and Paulino look like inning eaters for next year and Duffy looks like he is on the cusp of getting good, real good, with Lamb down for another year We need to find an ACE to lead the staff cause ours is atleast 2 years away (odorizzi) and maybe Monty will be ready to be a back of the rotation guy next year in the Show. There will be alot of FA pitchers this fall are we going to be willing to get one of the top guys ? we will have to spend the money. I didn’t forget about Francis I just don’t think he will be around after july 31 this year.

Written by KCattheBat about 4 years ago.

The list of FA starting pitchers at the end of this season actually seems quite weak. I think C.J. Wilson and Edwin Jackson are the headliners.

With that in mind, any thoughts on sending a package of possibly Moustakas, Robinson and Dwyer to the Mariners for Michael Pineda? Would they entertain it?

The M’s need help at 1B, 3B and DH, so this would certainly fill some holes for them. They also have Hultzen and others to come up and pitch, so it seems like both teams could fill the void of the players they’re shipping out with at least serviceable alternatives.

Written by fb0252 about 4 years ago.

would be enjoyable to get some analysis as to reasons for the Royals level of play. the starting pitching has been very decent. the problems with it involve more “decision making” instead of performance. Unknown to me why the Royals would trade anybody absent a good deal for a top notch starting pitcher. How long before out good fans figure out that Melky is pretty good, and that player shuffling has gotten the GMDM regime nowhere. etc. more productive to figure out why the following pitchers have been injured:
John Lamb
Mike Montgomery–twice
Tim Melville
Tyler Sample
Kyle Davies
Chen
And soon to be injured Paulino.

Written by fb0252 about 4 years ago.

and Tejada

Written by Sean about 4 years ago.

The culture, the talent, and the decision making all factor in. Tell me why Teahen batted 3rd for years, maybe 1000 ab’s and now can barely get off a bench. Why was DeJesus pretty good here yet can’t get off a struggling A’s bench. Is it easier to play in KC w/o pressure of winning or are they just bad players. Lots of questions and never answers or solutions. Johnny G and Aviles are tearing up Omaha right now…yet Getz leads off getting 5 ab’s a game. What’s Getz’ upside and would he play anywhere else? Would any other team employ a 6th man rotation in order to get Davies more starts?

Written by Connor Oberkrom about 4 years ago.

Also another worry has been the timing of calling up someone which hopefully they’ve caught onto.

At least we haven’t had a 1st baseman hit by a relay throw this year. That’s a plus. This team looks better then any Royals team in recent memory, yet they find ways to lose. That is what is troubling to me. I am hoping this is just part of being a young ballclub and not part of the culture. When the starting pitching is ok, the bullpen blows a game or there is no hitting and when the team hits, there is no starting pitching. This team, right now is good at finding creative ways to lose. Maybe when Kendall comes back he will give the team the leadership and intangibles to pull these close games out. That is what I am counting on!
And can we address how the Pirates process seems to have taken shape much quicker then the Royals? How the heck did that happen?

Written by COOLcalmT about 4 years ago.

Just a few random items…
Being born in 1986 in KC, my dad has called me the curse of the Royals, even though I would give up almost everything to see them win. I live for the Royals and watched them win today on my phone at work. Winning is fun.

I now live in Colorado and this past weekend went to all three games. Friday was embarrassing, Saturday a little better (after Kyle Davies was pulled) and Sunday was a blast.

On Saturday I was seated 5 feet from Dayton Moore and his family (assuming it was Family). I watched him all game and he just scowled the entire game. Which I respected because if he would have been cheering that would have been a little disheartening. Even though I wanted to bring up the process to him, I didn’t want to be the drunk jack ass that ruins the family night especially when it was fireworks night. Anyways, it was BRUTAL watching Kyle Davies take the mound and accept that he is a starting pitcher for the Royals. I’m only a fan. I can only pray that Dayton Moore was watching that and realized, ‘hey, maybe I’ve made some mistakes…let’s not do that again.’ The young guys looked good and there is some real promise but as you and everyone has preached there are still a lot of huge issues.

I’m still waiting on someone to explain the Mike Jacobs trade from a couple years ago. Come on!

Finally, since no opposing team fan is threatened by the Royals and many fans feel sympathy for the true fans…I received about $70 of free drinks after the games this weekend just for being at the bars with my Royals shirt on. So while this year continues try and squeeze out all the perks of a losing baseball team!

Huge improvement in Pitt’s starting pitchers, and a bigger improvement in their bullpen compared to the improved Royal’s bullpen. The Royal’s starters are essentially the same (or only slightly better if you factor the loss of Zack’s ERA 4.17 WHIP 1.25).

Point is Pittsburg has proven you can have a quick turnaround with better starting pitching (or maybe a new pitching coach). So next time Dayton say the process takes time…not for Pittsburg.

Written by Big Lee about 4 years ago.

“The next round of trades has to secure at least one back of the rotation starter, who can be counted on to keep the team in games”=We only gave up DeJesus and Callaspo. We may still get a back of the rotation guy from Mazarro or SOS, but we didn’t give up gold.

Starting pitching was supposed to be a future strength, and still may be, but young guys have struggled. It must be posted again: Why not stretch out Crow or Soria? We have several college guys doing the job in the pen, and bullpen guys are fungible. Both of these guys have the tools to start, where they will be more valuable. Yost (or DM) can be criticized for not maximizing strengths in this instance.

Written by scott H about 4 years ago.

I like the 6 man rotation because I think it is keeping Duffy here to learn and keeping Davies off the mound 1 extra day. DDJ would be an upgrade over Cabrera on D, Melky has trouble covering ground, streaching out Soria would be a mistake I don’t think we would have a closer if that was the case, do you all reallywant to see B. Wood in those situations ? Stretching out Crow who has been a starter as recently as last year would be the way to go, he has to be better that KD. Whoever said that trading Moose to the mariners was a good idea is crazy from the heat. Good hitters last longer than good pitchers, and who is to say that Pineda come here and stinks up the place or gets injured and Moose takes off in seattle and has a great 20 career